Queen Dorothea’s Bow

Director Jan Schmidt adapted short stories written by Vladislav Vančura in 1932 to create his film Luk královny Dorotky (Queen Dorothea’s Bow, 1970). The motion picture tried to emphasise the author’s ironic voice more than previous adaptations, namely Jiří Menzel’s Rozmarné léto (Capricious Summer, 1967) and František Vláčil’s Marketa Lazarová (1967). In an artistically ambitious project, Schmidt adapted three of Vančura’s stories: Brusič nožů (Knife Grinder), sees the vagabond Josefína deciding between her suitors on a show of strength. In Konec vše napraví (The Happy Ending), the ageing professor Viktor is duped by a student who is the lover of his young wife. Dobrá míra (Good Cheer) is the name of the pub where two suitors fight to the death for the barmaid Isabella. Appearing in the three tales of deception and subterfuge in double or triple roles are Jana Brejchová, Vladimír Menšík and Jaromír Hanzlík.